Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
30
Jun
‘No final decision’ made over North Yorkshire asylum centre plan, says minister
A government minister has said “no final decision” has been made on plans to house asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse.
As previously reported, the site, which is nine miles from Boroughbridge and 14 miles from Knaresborough, could house 1,200 single males.
The government has announced its intention to use the former RAF base for an undisclosed period.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday (June 29), Home Office minister Alex Norris confirmed Linton was under consideration for an asylum centre.
He told MPs that three ex-military bases have been earmarked alongside Linton. The others are Barnham in Suffolk and Bicester in Oxfordshire.
Mr Norris said:
Together, those sites could eventually provide accommodation for around 3,750 asylum seekers, subject to feasibility assessments, planning permission and the necessary approvals. Those caveats are important, because while our commitment to the promise we have made on hotels is absolute, we must ensure that we get this right and carry out all relevant due diligence, so that if we decide to proceed with an alternative site, our plans are as strong as they can possibly be.
Let me assure honourable members that we have learned from the previous government’s forays into this arena. No final decision will be taken on any site until, in each case, all necessary arrangements, assessments and approvals are in place and have been properly considered.
'The area would be overwhelmed'
However, Sir Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Wetherby and Easingwold, which includes the former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse, said the plan had already been rejected four years ago.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke speaking in Parliament.
He added that the number of people would “overwhelm” the rural area and put pressure on local amenities, such as the National Grid, healthcare and highways.
Mr Shelbrooke said:
Four years ago, this plan was rejected on technical grounds. Three times the local population would be put into the area, with no means to secure people within that site. They could roam into the village, which has no amenities and does not have a village shop. The area would be overwhelmed.
In response, Mr Norris said the scheme would have the “lightest local impact possible”.
He said:
The right honourable member talks about roaming. That is in no one’s interest, and what we have managed to do at Wethersfield and Crowborough is to ensure that people do not just come off-site and roam.
They are non-detained, as he said. Nevertheless, by the provision of activities and of transport, we can ensure the lightest local impact possible. That would be our commitment for these sites, too.
A unified response
The move comes as the plans have been met with opposition from local councillors and residents.
Meanwhile, the Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of North Yorkshire Council, has sought an urgent meeting involving the council, City of York Council and York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to developer a unified regional response.
He said the authorities should consider “all available levers – political, strategic, operational and legal” to persuade the government to reconsider the decision, engage with local leaders and identify a more suitable solution.
1